Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

Maine Governor Balks At Expanding Medicaid Even After Voters Had Their Say

Gov. Paul LePage (R), who has vetoed similar plans five times, says his administration will only implement expansion if it's fully funded by the state Legislature.

The Associated Press:
Governor Says Voters Wrong to Approve Medicaid Expansion
Maine's governor said Wednesday that residents of his state made an expensive mistake when they voted to expand access to Medicaid under the federal health care law, and he's hesitant to implement it. Gov. Paul LePage, an opponent of "Obamacare" like his ally and fellow Republican, President Donald Trump, has vetoed five different attempts by the state Legislature to expand the program. But Maine voters decided the issue at the polls Tuesday, approving a Medicaid expansion under former President Barack Obama's signature Affordable Care Act. (Whittle, 11/8)

Kaiser Health News:
Maine Voters Greenlight Medicaid Expansion, But Governor Says Whoa
LePage has long been a staunch opponent of Medicaid expansion. The Maine Legislature has passed bills to expand the insurance program five times since 2013, but the governor vetoed each one. That track record prompted Robyn Merrill, co-chair of the coalition Mainers for Health Care, to take the matter directly to voters Tuesday. The strategy worked. Medicaid expansion, or Question 2, passed handily, with 59 percent of voters in favor and 41 percent against. (Wight, 11/9)

The Hill:
Maine's Governor Won't Expand Medicaid Despite Approval Of Ballot Measure
Maine's House Speaker Sara Gideon (D) said in a statement that the legislature would implement the Medicaid expansion measure, and will fight the governor if he tries to intervene. "The legislature will move swiftly to fund Medicaid expansion as required by law. The governor and DHHS commissioner will implement its requirements as well, as they are obligated to do," Gideon said. (Weixel, 11/8)

Bangor (Maine) Daily News:
What’s Next For Medicaid Expansion As LePage And Democrats Dig In
Tuesday’s Medicaid expansion vote was a rebuke to LePage, who has vetoed Medicaid expansion five times. But there are many ways to stall a law. The governor said in a Wednesday statement that he wouldn’t implement expansion unless the Legislature achieves hard-to-meet and disputed goals. Here’s how the fight to give health coverage to 70,000 Mainers could go. (Shepherd, 11/8)

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